Feed mechanism for an apparatus for opposing offset in printing



aw}! 1967' w. E. MEYER 3,19,205

. FEED MECHANISM FOR AN APPARATUS FOR OPPOSING OFFSET IN PRINTING FiledMarch 9, 1964 INVENTOR WALTER E. MEYER 22 BY V United StatesPatentQfiiice 3,310,205 Patented Mar. 21, 1967 3,310,205 FEED MECHANIMFOR AN AIPARATUS FOR OPIGSENG GFFSET IN PRINTING Walter E. Meyer, PortWashington, Wis., assiguor to Cra-Vac Corporation, Port Washington,Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Mar. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 350,378 3Claims. (Cl. 222-193) This invention appertains to an apparatus forcoating paper with fine powdered material for opposing offset inprinting, and more particularly to certain new and useful improvementsin a feed mechanism for the fine powdered material.

This invention is primarily designed to be associated with the type ofapparatus shown and described in the copending application of Walter E.Meyer entitled, Apparatus for Opposing Offset in Printing, executedJanuary 15, 1964, and identified by Ser. No. 346,932 and given a filingdate of Feb. 24, 1964, now Patent No. 3,238,919 of Mar. 8, 1966.

In this co-pending application, the apparatus for opposing offset inprinting includes a device or container extending transversely acrossthe web or sheets to be treated. The powdered material is placed in thecontainer and a roller picks up the material, and air blowing means isprovided to direct a spray of fine powdered material, such as starch orflour, onto the printed sheets or webs to oppose offset. It isimportant, particularly where materials such as flour or starch areused, that a very fine control of the material be had. Thus, in theco-pending application I have described various adjustment means forregulating the feed gap between the top of the roller and container, andfor regulating the amount of air necessary to blow the particles fromthe roller. It is very important that the fine powdered material bespread evenly throughout the entire length of the container and rollerand when the container is filled, it is necessary that the same befilled evenly. It is necessary at times to smooth the fine powderedmaterial in the container, since often it tends to feed faster at oneplace along the roller than at other places.

Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide anovel feed means which constantly keeps the device supplied with thefine powdered material, and which discharges the same evenly over theentire length of the container and roller.

Another important object of the present invention resides in providingan improved feed mechanism, wherein the fine powdered material can beflour, which will be spread above the roller in such a manner as tomaintain an even level of material throughout the entire length of thecontainer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a feed tube andspiral feed screw fitting snugly therein, the tube and feed screwextending through the entire length of the container at a point justbehind and slightly above the roller, and having an open end of the tubeextending beyond the device so that powdered material such as flour orstarch is constantly discharged from the open end when the feed screw isworking and the powdered material is being properly fed to thecontainer.

A salient feature of my present invention resides in providing arelatively large hopper adjacent the device for opposing offset inprinting and in providing the hopper with an agitator to insure theproper even feed of the fine powdered material to the feed screw andwherein the bottom of the feed tube is provided with evenly spacedapertures so that the material will be fed and dispersed through theapertures by rotation of the feed screw evenly and constantly as themachine operates.

Still another object of my present invention is to provide a novel drivefor the agitator and feed screw and wherein the feed tube lies at thebottom of the hopper and at the apex of the slanting bottom wallsthereof.

A further object of my present invention is to provide a feed mechanismwhich is simple in construction, reliable in operation and not liable toget out of order.

With these and other objects in view and to the end of attaining anyother advantage hereinafter appearing, this invention consists incertain features of construction and combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims and illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of my novel feed mechanism shownassociated with the type of apparatus for opposing offset in printingdescribed in my co-pending application, certain parts being broken awayand in section to illustrate details in its construction;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line2-2 of FIGURE 1 of the drawings, and looking in the direction of thearrows;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the tube and feedscrew on an enlarged scale, the section being represented by the line3-3. of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

FIGURE 4 is a transverses vertical section taken on the line 44 ofFIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter M generally indicates my improved feed mechanism, and thesame is shown associated with an apparatus A for opposing offset inprinting.

As previously mentioned, the apparatus A is shown and described in myco-pending application and details of its construction therefore are notshown or described in this application; however, for purposes ofillustration, it should be noted that the device includes broadly ametal frame 20 upon which is formed a container 21 having a slantingbottom wall 22, a longitudinally extend ing sealing strip 23, roller 24and an air blowing conduit 25. One wall 26 of the air conduit 25 isadjustable so that the air gap 27 and feed gap 28 can be finelycontrolled but the means for adjustment forms a part of my co-pendingapplication, and no part of the present invention. The prior device wasalso provided with a series of spaced blowers 29, which forced in thedirection of the arrows through the gap 27 as shown more particularly inFIGURE 4 of the drawings, and this air aids in blowing the finepulverant material P eff of the roller 24 and onto the sheets or webs ofpaper to be treated.

As previously brought out, it is necessary that the powdered material bespread evenly throughout the entire length of the container 21 androller 24 so that the powdered material will be very evenly sprayed onthe travelling sheets or webs of paper. Heretofore, it has beennecessary to open the cover 30 and fill the container 21 and spread thefine powdered material evenly throughout the container and it is alsonecessary to observe at times the level of the material, and ifnecessary, spread the same evenly or level the same. This methodrequires much attention and consumes a great deal of time. Therefore, inorder to automatically feed the fine powdered material to the container21 and to also insure the even spreading of the material, I provide alongitudinally extending tube 31 and this tube extends throughout theentire length of the container 21 and terminates beyond the end wall 32thereof. This end 33 is open as shown, and powdered material fed throughthe tube evenly is discharged in the direction of the arrow, FIG. 1 ofthe drawings, from the end of the tube. Any suitable cona? tainer 34 canbe provided to catch the material as it leaves the end 33. Theimportance and purpose of this open end 33 will become apparent as thedescription proceeds. The inner end of the tube 35 is secured to theapex of the slanting bottom walls 36 of the relatively largehopper 37.This hopper can be of any desired size and is supported by fourvertically extending posts 38 secured to the corners of the verticalwalls 39. These posts can be of any desired construction and of anydesired material but for the purpose of illustration, I have shown thepostsin the form of angle iron welded or otherwise bolted to the walls39 to form the hopper or storage bin 37. Within the hopper 37 and spacedabove the bottom wall 36 is an agitator 40 and this agitator is mountedon a shaft 41 which is rotatably carried by suitable bearings 42. Oneend of the shaft 41 has splined thereto a sprocket 43 over which istrained a drive chain 44. This chain, in turn, is driven by the driveshaft 45 and drive sprocket 46. The drive shaft 45 can be rotated by anydesired power means, such as an electric motor and gearreduction unitindicated by the reference numeral 47 in FIGURE 1 of the drawings.Extending longitudinally and running. through the tube 31 is a spiralfeed screw 48, the convolutions 49 of which snugly engage the innerperipheral wall 50 of the tube 31. This feed screw is likewise rotatedby means of sprockets 51 splined to shaft 52, chain 53 and a drivesprocket 54. It should also be noted that the size of the varioussprockets and chain arrangements can be varied to provide for dilferentspeeds of rotation for the feed screw and the agitator 40. In any event,the powdered material P is dumped into the large hopper 37 and the innerend 35 of the tube 31 is provided with an open enlarged slot 55. Thecross-bars 57 of the agitator will constantly move through the powderedmaterial and insure the filtering and feeding of the powdered materialinto the tube and evenly between the convolutes 49 of the feed screw.Thus, as the feed screw is rotated, the material P is moved through theentire length of the tube 31 and Within the confines of the container 21the bottom of the tube is provided with evenly spaced apertures 56 andthe material is forced through these apertures in the direction of thearrows, FIG. 3 of the drawings, over the roller 24 and as the rollerturns in a counter-clockwise direction indicated by the arrows, FIG. 4,it picks up the material and the same is then blown off of the roller bymeans of air through gap 27. Roller 24 is machined so that it will pickup the powdered material evenly throughout its entire length and as thetube and feed screw direct and disperse the powdered material evenlythroughout the entire length of the container, the resultant spray ofthe powder P will be evenly and equally dispersed along the paper sheetsor web. As the material P moves through the entire length of the tube31, a constant even flow is discharged from the discharge end 33 of thetube and this indicates that the apparatus and feed mechanism isoperating correctly and that a constant and even supply of the powderedmaterial is being dispersed within the container 21. This makes itpossible to use flour which heretofore has not been used, since it wasdifficult to evenly disperse the same throughout the entire length ofthe roller.

It should be noted that the cross-bars 57 of the agitator are held inposition by means of the spaced parallel extending arms 60 which are inturn splined or fastened to the shaft 41 in any desired manner.Obviously, the cross-bars 57 and agitator are so constructed that thebars will clear the bottom wall 36 of the hopper regardless of the shapethereof and the cross-bars should be relatively thin as shown toproperly function and keep the finely *pulverant material from packingand becoming hard to move or handle.

Further, the exact location of the tube 31 within the container 21 isstressed and the tube is positioned just above and rearward of therolier 24 so that the openings or apertures 56 are above and adjacentthe bottom wall 22 to thus assure an even level of the material.

While I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of mynovel feed mechanism, it should be understood that the same can beadapted to other types of devices for opposing offset in printing,wherein fine powdered material is picked up by a roller and thenloosened therefrom in the spray form. It will be understood that theseembodiments are merely for the purpose of illustration and description,that various other forms may be devised and that changes may be made inthe proportions and minor details of construction without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A powder dispenser comprising, a substantially rectangular shapedframe of the type adapted to extend transversely above a moving bed of aprinting machine carrying freshly printed webs and printed sheets,including an elongated container for powdered material carried by saidframe and having a rear, front, bottom and end walls, said bottom wallslanting forwardly and downwardly from said rear wall and terminating inspaced relation with said front wall forming an elongated relativelylarge discharge opening, a roller mounted for rotation substantiallyclosing said opening and in sealing relationship with the endtermination of said bottom wall, an air conduit above and adjacent theforward portion of said roller, means for providing a steady flow of airthrough said air conduit to impinge upon the outer peripheral surface ofsaid roller, a feed mechanism for supplying a steady and even flow ofpowdered material to said container including, a longitudinallyextending hollow feed tube extending through said container above thebottom wall thereof and having its end terminations projecting beyondthe respective end walls of said container, a powdered material supplyhopper adjacent one end termination of said feed tube, said respectiveend of said feed tube being so constructed and arranged as to extendinto the said hopper adjacent the bottom portion thereof, alongitudinally extending spiral feed screw received in said tube andextending substantially through the entire length thereof, meansproviding open communication between said feed tube and said hopper,means within said container for evenly and steadily dispersing saidpowdered material from said tube into said container, and means forrotating said feed screw to constantly and simultaneously feed materialthrough said tube into said container and out the open end terminationof said tube.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means within saidcontainer for evenly and steadily dispersing said material from saidtube into said container includes positioning said tube above andrearward of said roller and providing a series of evenly spacedapertures in the bottom portion of said tube extending the entire lengthof the container and roller.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means providingopen communication between said tube and said hopper includes anelongated slot in the upper portion of said tube extending substantiallythe entire length of said hopper.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,522,693 9/ 1950Stitler 222-238 X 2,650,002 8/1953 Farley 222-238 3,001,633 9/1961Heitshu 222-412 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,179,111 5/1959 France.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. HADD S. LANE, Examiner.

1. A POWDER DISPENSER COMPRISING, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPEDFRAME OF THE TYPE ADAPTED TO EXTEND TRANSVERSELY ABOVE A MOVING BED OF APRINTING MACHINE CARRYING FRESHLY PRINTED WEBS AND PRINTED SHEETS,INCLUDING AN ELONGATED CONTAINER FOR POWDERED MATERIAL CARRIED BY SAIDFRAME AND HAVING A REAR, FRONT, BOTTOM AND END WALLS, SAID BOTTOM WALLSLANTING FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID REAR WALL AND TERMINATING INSPACED RELATION WITH SAID FRONT WALL FORMING AN ELONGATED RELATIVELYLARGE DISCHARGE OPENING, A ROLLER MOUNTED FOR ROTATION SUBSTANTIALLYCLOSING SAID OPENING AND IN SEALING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENDTERMINATION OF SAID BOTTOM WALL, AN AIR CONDUIT ABOVE AND ADJACENT THEFORWARD PORTION OF SAID ROLLER, MEANS FOR PROVIDING A STEADY FLOW OF AIRTHROUGH SAID AIR CONDUIT TO IMPINGE UPON THE OUTER PERIPHERAL SURFACE OFSAID ROLLER, A FEED MECHANISM FOR SUPPLYING A STEADY AND EVEN FLOW OFPOWDERED MATERIAL TO SAID CONTAINER INCLUDING, A LONGITUDINALLYEXTENDING HOLLOW FEED TUBE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CONTAINER ABOVE THEBOTTOM WALL THEREOF AND HAVING ITS END TERMINATIONS PROJECTING BEYONDTHE RESPECTIVE END WALLS OF SAID CONTAINER, A POWDERED MATERIAL SUPPLYHOPPER ADJACENT ONE END TERMINATION OF SAID FEED TUBE, SAID RESPECTIVEEND OF SAID FEED TUBE BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED AS TO EXTENDINTO THE SAID HOPPER ADJACENT THE BOTTOM PORTION THEREOF, ALONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SPIRAL FEED SCREW RECEIVED IN SAID TUBE ANDEXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGH THE ENTIRE LENGTH THEREOF, MEANSPROVIDING OPEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID FEED TUBE AND SAID HOPPER,MEANS WITHIN SAID CONTAINER FOR EVENLY AND STEADILY DISPERSING SAIDPOWDERED MATERIAL FROM SAID TUBE INTO SAID CONTAINER, AND MEANS FORROTATING SAID FEED SCREW TO CONSTANTLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY FEED MATERIALTHROUGH SAID TUBE INTO SAID CONTAINER AND OUT THE OPEN END TERMINATIONOF SAID TUBE.